New FDA chief suspends official caught for graft on day one

Senior IAS official Harshdeep Kamble, who took over as Maharashtra's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner today, suspended an official for allegedly accepting a bribe.
"I have ordered suspension of assistant commissioner Gulab Gore of Chandrapur who was caught while accepting a bribe for renewal of grocery shop license," Kamble told PTI.
Gore had allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 3,000 from a shopkeeper at Mul in Chandrapur district. While Rs 2,000 were given earlier, the ACB arrested him while accepting Rs 1,000 yesterday.
"Considering the seriousness of the case, Gore has been suspended as per the provisions of Maharashtra Civil Services Rules, 1979," Kamble said.

"Such acts by FDA staff would be dealt seriously. There is acute shortage of staff in FDA but such kind of nonsense won't be tolerated," he said.
The new FDA commissioner also said he would be concentrating on streamlining license procedures to ensure there is no undue harassment of applicants. "We will use technology to get work done efficiently," he added.
FDA deals with over 7.5 lakh establishments, including pharmacy outlets, food processing units, grocery shops, etc., he said.
He also said that he had ordered updating of the FDA website which till today showed the minister from earlier Congress-NCP regime as the current minister in charge of the department.